The New teacher
by watershadows
Summary: Harry goes back to school...and stuff happens...Harry's got a gf, Hermione's got a bf...and Ron has a gf...Draco's too pathetic 2 have one...
1. Dudley's Disastrous Birthday

Chapter 1- Dudley's Disasterous Birthday  
  
Sunlight shone through the dirty musty curtains of the bedroom upstairs Number 4 Privet Drive as a sixteen-year-old boy sleepily rubbed his eyes with one hand while the other was trying to find his glasses on the bedside table. He grabbed it and put it on.  
  
" HARRY!!! Come down quick! Have you forgotten what day it is? I'm warning you boy, one step out of line and you're done, you hear me? " thundered Uncle Vernon from the bottom of the stairs.  
  
" Yes, Uncle Vernon. " Harry shouted as he struggled to get out of the tangled blanket coiling him. He got dressed and went down for breakfast .  
  
Harry Potter is a wizard about to start his 6th year at Hogwarts. He isn't just any ordinary wizard-but an extraordinary wizard that had survived a deadly curse that would have killed any other wizard, a curse cast by the Dark Lord himself-LORD VOLDERMORT. Harry had survived it with nothing left but a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. His parents had been killed by Lord Voldermort on that fateful night and when Lord Voldermort failed to kill Harry, he fled. Luckily,Harry had been saved by Hagrid, the keeper of keys at Hogwarts ground. So sadly, Harry was left in the care of the Dursleys, his only living relatives and they treat him like a slimy slug with some infective disease.  
  
Today was Harry's cousin, Dudley's birthday. Dudley was a fat porky boy, too large for his age and he hardly had any neck at all. Anyone would be able to see what a disgusting boy he is, but he was Vernon and Petunia Dursley's pride and joy. Dudley's hobby was pummeling Harry everyday.  
  
"Oh, here comes the birthday boy!!!" squealed Aunt Petunia as Dudley entered the kitchen. Dudley was dressed in a tux obviously too small for him as the bottom part of his tux was trying to hold together and suddenly the bottom button popped off and his flabby tummy burst out. Harry stared at Dudley's tummy and looked at Aunt Petunia. But Aunt Petunia was too busy fussing over Dudley, Uncle Vernon was too busy reading his newspaper and Dudley was too busy counting his presents to even notice it.  
  
" 37.38.39.40.41.42.42 presents?!"counted Dudley.  
  
" Yes, my darling Dudders!!! Four more then the last time!!! Is it ok with you?" asked Aunt Petunia happily, looking hopefully at Dudley.  
  
Dudley frowned a little and finally said " Oh, I guess." And ran to the table to rip open his presents. Aunt Petunia looked as if she would die from relief and her expression looked like a puppy who had been praised by its master for the first time.  
  
Everyone sat round the kitchen table and Aunt Petunia served everyone with ham, eggs, bacon, sausages and four slices of bread while Harry got to eat last night's leftovers.  
  
" Dudley, dear, if you want second helpings, just ask from mummy, ok?" pampered Aunt Petunia.  
  
"I thought he was supposed to be on diet."said Harry. Uncle Vernon looked up from his plate and glared daggers at Harry. Harry hastily looked at his plate and shoved down the remaining spaghetti. He got up and took his plate to the sink.  
  
Ding Dong! Ding Dong!  
  
Harry turned to see if anyone was going to answer it, but everyone was too busy stuffing themselves.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes and wiped his wet hands on his baggy jeans. "I'll get it."muttered Harry, knowing no one would bother anyway. He pushed the kitchen door open and ran to the door. He peeped through the letterbox slit and saw a funky teenager at the door holding a parcel.  
  
Harry swung open the door. "Errr..yes? May I help you?"  
  
"Hey.little dude...yeah....um,I'm looking for uhhh..a Dudley Derrslliii...Durssslliii..Dursley!! yeah, uh... your dude has a funky name, man! Is he living here, lil dude?"asked the delivery guy. He was wearing a bright yellow 'Wazzup world?!' T-shirt.  
  
"Yeah, errr.he's my cousin. He's having his breakfast in the kitchen. I'll go get him. Hold on .." Harry said as he turned to get Uncle Vernon.  
  
"Hey, little dude...that's not necessary. Just sign on my paper."  
  
"Oh,ok."said Harry, taking the guy's ink-smudged pen. "There."  
  
Harry passed the paper and pen back to the delivery guy and the guy handed him the parcel.  
  
"It's the dude's birthday today, right?"asked the guy.  
  
"Well, yeah. How do you know?" asked Harry puzzled. Dudley isn't that popular, is he? Even the funky delivery guy knows it's his birthday. "And no one cares about mine."thought Harry angrily, and he couldn't help feeling jealous.  
  
"Dude, look." The delivery guy pointed to the parcel. Harry looked down and it was then he saw the words 'Happy Birthday, Dudley!!' written neatly across the wrapping paper.  
  
"Oh." Harry wanted to slap himself for his own stupidity. "Ok, thanks for sending it here."  
  
"Dude, it's my job. Anyway, it's nice to meet you. See ya, lil dude." And he walked down the porch, jumped on his bike and sped off into the distance.  
  
"Whew, he's one weird fellow." Harry said softly as he closed the door. He walked into the kitchen and all three heads looked up from their plates and looked at him. "What took you so long, you lazy boy?" roared Uncle Vernon. Harry raised an eyebrow and passed the parcel to Dudley. "Someone sent you another present."said Harry bitterly.  
  
"Who?"yelled Dudley, snatching the parcel from him. "I don't really care who anyway. I just care about the present."said Dudley while ripping the parcel apart. "Wow!!!"yelled Dudley as sweets spilled out from the parcel.  
  
"Who sent this to you?" asked Aunt Petunia, pouring out the sweets and inspecting the box. "Harry! Who was it from?"she barked, as Dudley began stuffing the sweets into his mouth.  
  
"How am I supposed to know? The delivery just sent it to me! And it's none of my business, anyway."answered Harry, annoyed.  
  
"That's it, boy. Go up to your room! We're sending you to Mrs. Figgs! And you're not having dinner tonight!"roared Uncle Vernon.  
  
"Fine, whatever." Harry lowered his tone and was about to go upstairs when Aunt Petunia shrieked. Harry turned and saw that Dudley had turned into Mrs. Figgs.  
  
"Vernon! What do we do?" At that moment 'Vernon' came out from her mouth, Dudley turned into Uncle Vernon.  
  
"Harry!!!!!!"screamed Uncle Vernon. "What have you done?!"shouted Aunt Petunia as Dudley turned into Harry.  
  
"Aunt Marge!"screamed Harry before sprinting up the stairs three at a time as Dudley turned into beefy Aunt Marge. Harry ran into his room, slammed the door and locked it. He rolled all over his bed laughing until he had a painful cramp in his tummy.  
  
Just then, a sharp tap came from his closed bedroom window. He clutched his tummy and painfully walked over to the window. He drew the curtains and opened the window. A scrawny owl flew straight in and landed on Harry's bed with a soft thump. Harry walked over to the owl and recognised it as Errol, the Weasley's owl. Harry hurriedly untied the note from Errol's leg and Errol gratefully pecked Harry's arm and flew out of the open window.  
  
Harry unrolled the note and inside the note written in a familiar handwriting were the words:  
  
Hey, Harry. How are you now? Hope you're fine. Have Dudley  
received the parcel yet? If so, please tell us the effects that  
happened to your cousin. Write to us as soon as possible and  
tell us ,ok? It's just some extra experiments we've done over  
the summer. Hope to hear from you soon.  
P/s Ginny misses you like crazy.  
Cheers:  
Fred & George 


	2. In hot soup

Chapter 2-In hot soup  
  
Harry stared at the note and a look of amusement dawned on his face. "I should've known it was Fred and George all along! Who else could come up with such brilliant ideas?" thought Harry aloud. He sat on his bed and pulled out a piece of parchment from under his bed and took his quill, dipped it in his ink bottle and started writing his note back to Fred and George. "There." He rolled up the note and tied it up.  
  
He walked over to Hedwig who was asleep in her cage and stroked her snowy head with his finger. She rustled her feathers and stared up at Harry with her black beady eyes, a look of annoyance on her face.  
  
"Sorry, Hedwig. But I got to send a letter over to Fred and George urgently. Please understand." Harry said as he fed her a few owl treats. She nibbled them and flew out of her cage and perched on Harry's bed side, with her leg sticking out, allowing Harry to tie the note to her leg.  
  
"Thanks Hedwig. I really appreciate it." He stroked Hedwig on her head and off she flew out of the open window where Errol flew out just minutes ago. He watched her flying into the clouds until she was only a tiny speck and was gone. Harry stood there looking at the scenery outside. A cool morning breeze met his face and he suddenly found himself thinking of Sirius Black again.  
  
Sirius was Harry's godfather. He had died last year when he fell through the veil while battling with Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry still didn't want to believe that it was true. Sirius, the one and only person who truly care for him and protected him were gone. All his dreams of one day living a happy life with his godfather were gone. Sirius had risked his life many times to protect Harry. In his third year at Hogwarts, Harry, with the help of Hermione, had saved Sirius from the Dementors and their deadly Kiss. Harry would never ever forgive Bellatrix. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes when suddenly the door rumbled and shook.  
  
Harry looked away from the window and looked at the door. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! The sound of Uncle Vernon stomping loudly up the stairs could be heard, snorting and having a terrible fit.  
  
"HARRY POTTER!!! COME OUT HERE AT ONCE AND FIX DUDLEY BACK!!! RIGHT NOW, BOY OR YOU'LL NEVER EVER BE ALLOWED TO GO BACK TO THAT RUDDY SCHOOL OF YOURS EVER AGAIN!!!"bellowed Uncle Vernon.  
  
Harry quickly ran to the door and unlocked it. He swung it open just in time, as Uncle Vernon was about to knock it down. Harry slowly looked up at his uncle and a mix of fear and humor ran through him. Uncle Vernon was looking down at him; his face was a mixed color of blue, green and red. His moustache was twitching ferociously and he was snarling. Harry would have laughed on the spot if it weren't at a time where Uncle Vernon was going to pound him into minced meat and feed it to the dogs.  
  
"WHAT IS THIS..THIS THING YOU DID TO MY DUDLEY?!" demanded Uncle Vernon, giving him a deadly glare full of venom, with his fists balled tightly at his sides. It looked as though Uncle Vernon was using every ounce of strength he had to restrain himself from punching Harry's teeth off.  
  
"This surely wouldn't happen if Dudley wasn't such a pig to gobble everything up in that box without knowing where it came from." Harry said, risking a glance at Uncle Vernon. His uncle looked like he was about to explode and his face was turning purple.  
  
"Ok, uncle, I'll try to fix him." He added hastily while trying to stifle a laugh. "I'll have to write to my friends for the cure. It'll just take a few days."  
  
"YOU BETTER DO THAT, BOY, OR YOU"RE DONE FOR!!! I"LL KILL YOU IF YOU DON"T FIX HIM RIGHT!!! HE'LL HAVE TO SKIP SCHOOL FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS JUST BECAUSE OF YOU! WHAT WOULD PEOPLE SAY IF THEY SAW HIM?! FOR ALL THIS TROUBLE, YOU'LL NOT GET LUNCH AND DINNER!!!"yelled Uncle Vernon, pointing an accusing finger at Harry, as he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry's previous year schoolbooks, which were stacked at the corner of the table, collapsed on the floor with a loud thud, stirring up a cloud of dust.  
  
Harry picked up his books and arranged them neatly in the corner. He slumped on his bed and closed his eyes. Suddenly, something furry slammed into his right cheek. He opened his eyes in alarm and saw a very tiny, gray ruffled owl on his bed. Harry picked it up and saw that it was Pig, Ron's owl. As he was untying the note, another larger and grander owl flew in and perched beside Harry's bedside table. Harry recognized it as the Hogwarts owl. Harry put Ron's note on the bed and reached for the Hogwarts's owl. After Harry took the note, the owl flew out of the window without stopping a minute to rest.  
  
Harry opened the Hogwarts letter and saw that it was next year's book list. He put the note with the attached list aside and pulled up Ron's letter. He opened it excitedly wondering what it was about since it was the first time in months he got any letter from Ron or Hermione.  
  
Harry, I heard all about Fred & George's sswwweeet prank! Did it work  
on your cousin-what's-his-name? You have got to tell me all about it  
in the Hogwart's train next week! Fred & George's prank shop is a  
major hit in the Wizarding world at the moment. They're huge and  
totally popular! Until then, take care! Xoxo Ron  
  
A broad smile spread over Harry's face. He could just imagine Ron's enthusiastic, red-eared face when he was writing the letter to Harry. He really missed his friends at Hogwarts; Hermione, Hagrid, not forgetting the great and wise headmaster, Albus Dumbledore and all his teachers at Hogwarts, excluding Snape. Harry reached under the bed to pull out another piece of parchment to write his replying letter to Ron but his hands found nothing but cobwebs. He leaned over, crouched down on all fours and peered cautiously under his bed, not knowing what he might find under there. Cobwebs, more cobwebs, dust bunnies, last week's barely-eaten moldy sandwich which he had thrown under there when Aunt Petunia forced him to eat it with weird stuffing in the sandwich. It was just one of many ways to punish Harry for teasing Dudley last week about his stupidity and porkiness. At the far end corner of the bed, Harry spotted a few pieces of parchment. He looked around for anything long enough to reach under his bed so he could poke it out.  
  
His eyes landed on Uncle Vernon's golden trophy he had recently won for the best selling drills in town. Uncle Vernon had probably used many dirty tricks to sell his lousy drills. It was almost a foot long, with a long, pointy top. At the top was a miniature man holding drills. Uncle Vernon had carried it up to Harry's room last week because Aunt Petunia was doing an extremely early spring-cleaning. Harry got up and walked across the room. He took the trophy carefully and held it by its head. He crouched down on all fours again and using the trophy's long top, he managed to take out the parchments stuck together with a lot of cobwebs and an unusually large spider on it. The spider crept off the parchments and scurried back under the bed. Harry got back up on his feet and brushed away all the cobwebs and dust sticking on him. He picked up the parchments and blew away all the dust and cobwebs growing over it. He put it on his bed and placed the trophy back on the shelf.  
  
He was only a few steps away from the vase when a hollow thunk came from behind him. He swung around and saw the miniature man holding the drill's head lying on the floor. He ran back and picked up the head. He roughly tried to stick the head back on the headless miniature man.  
  
"Come on, you dumb thing! Stick! Stick!" he muttered furiously as he failed putting the head back on as it kept falling back off. He tried to come up with a way to hold it in place before Uncle Vernon comes back up anytime to bring it back downstairs. He paced up and down trying to come up with a way when he spotted Hedwig's cage. He peeped inside and saw Hedwig's droppings. An idea suddenly hit him. Harry took two plastic bags, covered it over his hands and reached inside Hedwig's cage.  
  
"Here goes nothing."he mumbled as he picked up the droppings. He went over to the trophy and carefully stuffed the droppings on the headless man's neck. He took more droppings and stuffed it on the neck until a whole gunky, sticky pile was covering the whole thing. He placed the head on and squashed it on the neck. Harry held it in place for about twenty seconds and slowly let go, praying it wouldn't fall off. It didn't. Harry took a few steps back, admiring his masterpiece. The miniature man looked normal enough with a head and every other body parts on.  
  
Harry sighed a contented sigh as he pulled off the plastic bags and threw it in the trashcan. Harry had just finished cleaning up Hedwig's cage, refilled her water bowl and food bowl, when Hedwig flew in. She dropped a bag on the table and perched on Harry's shoulder and seeing that Harry had cleaned up her cage nicely, she nibbled his ear appreciatively and flew in to drink some water and take a rest. Harry stroked her and went to open the bag that Hedwig had just brought in. Inside were some of the most mouth- watering, delicious-looking cookies and brownies ever imaginable. There was a short note attached.  
  
Harry, thanks for helping us with our experiment! This sweet is going  
to earn us big bucks!  
You might need the cure for it. Just add two teaspoonful of lime juice  
in a fresh coconut and drink it all up. Just leave your cousin like  
that for a while first and enjoy the torture! Here are a few cookies  
for you! It's made by Lee's mum. You'll find just one cookie as  
filling as a complete meal!!! (It's not one of our experiments! Cross  
our hearts!) Hope that the Muggles aren't treating you too bad by  
starving you or something. Anyway, take care of yourself and write to  
us if you have any ideas how to improve our products! The Weasley Twins  
  
Harry felt so grateful and his tummy gave a loud grumble. He looked over at the bedside clock and realized it was already almost noontime and hadn't had lunch. Harry picked out a nicely decorated cookie and took a bite. The taste was irresistible. Chocolate spilled out from the cookie and Harry closed his eyes while savoring the delicious rich chocolate taste. He ate it slowly and by the time he had finished the cookie, he felt really full but couldn't resist trying just one more. He sealed up the bag and hid it at the corner well hidden from Uncle Dursley. He was going to keep the rest for dinner and other days as he remembered he wasn't going to get any dinner. He didn't want to tell Uncle Vernon the cure yet; he wanted to wait for a few more days until he ran out of cookies. 


	3. The Gift

Chapter 3- The gift  
  
The bag of cookies lasted him for a week. Uncle Vernon had shut him in his room the whole time. Aunt Petunia came up every one hour to see if Harry had the cure for her 'lil ickey Duddy' yet but Harry had lied to Aunt Petunia the whole week.  
  
On the last day of the week, that was Sunday, Harry was woken up by a tapping sound just outside his window. He sleepily got off his bed and shuffled over to the window. He drew the curtains and saw a frantic owl furiously pecking the window. Harry opened the window and the owl zoomed in, landing right into Harry's open hand. He took the note and the owl flew off, almost flying into another pigeon.  
  
Harry flicked on the table lamp and put on his glasses. He unrolled the note and read it:  
  
Harry, Ron told me all about the silly prank! How could that Fred and  
George do this? It's so childish. Your poor muggle cousin! Is he cured  
yet? Harry, you should have known better than to let your cousin eat  
those sweets! I'm so ashamed of Ron! What is it with you boys and  
silly pranks?  
You boys better watch yourselves, you might go too far one day. Uh,  
we're sixteen, Harry, grow up! Anyway, see you on Thursday.  
  
Harry looked over at his calendar and saw only four more days that hadn't been crossed out yet. He already had his trunk packed and put nicely at the corner of the room. Harry couldn't wait for Thursday. Thursday and he's saved from his misery for a whole year. He slunk into his bed and puffed his fringe out of his eyes.  
  
"Four days...four days...." Harry kept chanting. He smiled as the visions at Hogwarts came to him. "Four days and I'll be back where I belong, home." The thought gave Harry a familiar, comforting sensation that he always had whenever he thought of Hogwarts.  
  
Bang! Harry's door flung open. Aunt Petunia was standing at the doorway, with her hands at her hips.  
  
"HARRY! IT'S ALREADY BEEN A WEEK AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T GOT THE CURE FOR MY POOR DUDERS YET! HAVE YOU WRITTEN TO YOUR SILLY LITTLE FRIENDS YET? IS THIS SOME KIND OF STUPID JOKE? I'M GIVING YOU UNTIL TOMORROW, YOU NASTY MONGREL, OR YOU'RE NEVER GOING BACK TO THAT ABNORMAL SCHOOL OF YOURS EVER AGAIN! VERNON'S HAVING GUESTS COMING OVER TO OUR HOUSE TOMORROW AND DUDLEY MUST BE IN HIS RIGHT STATE AGAIN OR YOU'RE DEAD MEAT! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?! "she barked and a throbbing blue vein beside her left temple was visible.  
  
"Actually, Aunt Petunia, I was just going to tell you." Harry paused and stroked his chin dramatically. "Oh, never mind about it. It's nothing important."he said as he slowly paced around the room. "It's JUST that I HAVE the CURE for your little DUDLEY." Harry raised his voice on purpose and watched with amusement as he saw Aunt Petunia's face going red and she was about to open her mouth, probably to scream at him, thought better of it and closed it.  
  
"Well, Harry, my GOOD little nephew, "she said, as she attempted a forced smile at Harry. The best she could do was making her mouth twitch slightly up and her eyes became unusually small. "Come on now, be a good little boy and tell Aunt Petunia the cure. "she crooned in a honey-sweet voice.  
  
"Hmm.Aunt.. let me see, you and Uncle Vernon threaten me, Dudley bullies me.you guys just suck. Big time. So, I don't see why I should give it to you." He stopped to think. "Well, not if.. not if you agree to my conditions."  
  
Aunt Petunia took a while to think but at last she reluctantly agreed.  
  
"Ok, Aunt P. Condition number one: I want to be treated like a human being, not some kind of dog you guys feed your leftover dinners to.  
Conditions number two: You guys will stop talking about my school like it's some weird abominable alien school or something.  
Conditions number three: You guys will stop calling my friends rude names. They're my friends, and you shall not insult them.  
Condition number four: Stay out of my life and I'll stay out of yours."  
  
"Yeah, whatever. Now tell me the cure, Harry! "sighed Aunt Petunia impatiently. "I'm losing my patience with you, boy."  
  
"Ok, first, you have to get a really fresh coconut, then add two teaspoonful of lime juice in it, stir it, and drink it all up." Harry told her. Then deciding to spice things up a little, he added, "While hopping around on one foot yelling 'I'm an idiot! Look at me, the stupid idiot!' And Dudley must do it in my room."  
  
Aunt Petunia quickly called Dudley up. Dudley came up as Dudley, and he looked really miserable. His mother got all the ingredients and gave it to him. The liquid turned into a milky gray with some weird fungus spots floating at the surface. Dudley smelled it and scrunched up his nose disapprovingly.  
  
"Drink it up now, baby. You'll be fine after this. "coaxed Aunt Petunia.  
  
Dudley pinched his nose and drank it. He forced himself to swallow it and like an idiot, he started hopping around on one foot yelling, "I'M AN IDIOT! LOOK AT ME, THE STUPID IDIOT!' at the top of his lungs.  
  
After he was done, Aunt Petunia ran and hug Dudley, who had tear streaks leaking over his cheeks. She cautiously called 'Vernon' and bless Dudley's lil soul, he didn't turn into his dad. Aunt Petunia burst with emotion and pulled Dudley out of the room, dragging him down the stairs to show Uncle Vernon that their precious son had been cured.  
  
Harry leaped back on his bed, and suddenly a pretty girl's image floated through his mind. It was Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw's seeker. Harry had secretly grown fond of her since he first met her. They had both kissed in 'Dumbledore's Army's secret meeting room last year and things had been blurry since. Cho had left school and never did she post him a note or anything. He had been hoping to hear from her but until now, not a word from her had been heard.  
  
"She must be playing you." A voice whispered to Harry somewhere in his head. "She's a senior, how can she ever really get serious in you? You're just a little immature boy to her eyes. That kiss was just to give you what you want. She never did get serious now, did she, Harry? Forget her and move on."  
  
Harry thought for a while about the kiss. It had made him soar through the skies and made him feel that anything was possible with her. It made him dizzy and crazy all at the same time and he had loved it. He doubted that anyone could ever have the same effect Cho had given him when they had kissed. He couldn't ever forget her, although she must have forgotten him by now and have a handsome and cool senior boyfriend. The thought of Cho making out with some senior pretty boy angered him.  
  
"Yeah, maybe I should forget you, Cho, and move on with someone who's serious about me." Harry said aloud angrily. "Who are you kidding, Harry?" The voice said again. "It's impossible you'll forget her. She's your first love and nobody can forget his or her first love. You kissed her, and that tightened the bond and emotion you have for her. You're obsessed with her."  
  
"I so am not obsessed with her." He argued. "How much do you want to bet, Harry? I know better then you do." The voice said. "Who are you anyway?" Harry asked. "I am you, Harry. I am your soul." replied the voice. "So basically, I'm talking to myself?! "asked Harry, feeling pretty stupid.  
  
"Yup. Not everyone can do that, you know. Only very talented and desirable people can really open up their souls. You're called a soul-speaker, and that's a very rare gift, Harry. Only one out of a thousand wizards is a soul-speaker. But you must not tell anyone about this or your talent would be gone."  
  
"I promise."said Harry and continued thinking about Cho, where she might be now, and what she might be doing, and thinking a little about his newfound talent. Now he's a parceltongue and a soul-speaker. He felt pretty special and happy that he had a new friend that really could understand him....his own soul. 


	4. To the train station

Chapter 4-To the train station  
  
Monday and Tuesday rolled by uneventfully. The only thing that was good about it was that Harry had been left alone and Dudley had stopped pestering him. His meals were good, considering the fact that he didn't need to eat leftovers anymore.  
  
On Tuesday night, after everyone had finished dinner, Aunt Petunia cleaned up and shooed everyone out of the kitchen. Since it was father-and-son night, Uncle Vernon and Dudley went to the TV room to watch a football match that was Arsenal, Uncle Vernon and Dudley's favorite football team, versus Manchester United. Harry was about to go up to his room when he remembered that he had not asked Uncle Vernon if he could send Harry to the train station tomorrow.  
  
"Um, Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked cautiously. Uncle Vernon narrowed his eyes evilly at Harry. "What do you want?" he barked. "I just wanted to ask you, if you could send me to platform 9 and ¾ tomorrow." said Harry simply. "You want me to send you to that abn-"shouted Uncle Vernon, thought better of it and grumbled," Yeah, yeah, whatever."  
  
"Thanks." replied Harry brightly and sprinted up the stairs to his room. He swung the door shut and ran to his calendar. He picked up the marker lying near the calendar and crossed out another day.  
  
"Yeap, tomorrow, I am going to return back to where I belong, home.," he said happily as he tapped the marker on the table. He jumped on the bed and crashed his head on the low ceiling. He rubbed his head but barely felt the pain as he was overcome with happiness. He laid his head on the pillow and flicked off the lights, closing his eyes and falling into a peaceful sleep.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
Harry woke up with a start. He was drenched with cold sweat. He smacked his scar hard and rubbed it violently. It was stinging and Harry felt like someone had put a red-hot burning cigarette butt on his scar. He looked around and saw that it was only 1.45 am on his digital alarm clock. Everything seemed normal enough.his trunk was beside his window, the table lamp was on the table, the lights were all switched off. The house was creepily quiet, even Uncle Vernon wasn't snoring that night, which was very unusual. Harry got up and walked to the bathroom, turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face. He wiped his face and patted his scar gently. The pain was starting to ease away. Harry silently opened his door and peeped outside.  
  
Everything was totally dark and only faint outlines of objects lightened by the moonlight could be seen. Harry was about to close his door when he heard soft voices downstairs. He tiptoed down the stairs, cleverly avoiding the creaking stair. He squinted hard as he tried to see what was going on downstairs. He could see two people sitting on the couch, and he recognized that one of them was Uncle Vernon. He was sitting very close to someone that looked like a female. Harry could only catch a few words.  
  
"Vernon, you shouldn't be cheating on your wife.what's her name again?"  
  
"Errrrr, I think her name is.. Thetuna..Petunia? I can't really remember..I only know your name, Liz.."came Uncle Vernon's dreamy voice.  
  
The lady giggled flirtatiously which really wanted to make Harry puke and by the sound of it, they had begun kissing intently. He couldn't believe it; Uncle Vernon was cheating on Aunt Petunia?! Never in his life would Harry ever think that Uncle Vernon would have another lady in his life. Well, yeah, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia never talked much and did anything romantic together, but that seemed pretty normal for them. Harry was wondering if he should tell Aunt Petunia about, or maybe she knew but had totally ignored it all along? He was starting to feel sympathetic towards Aunt Petunia, when Uncle Vernon and that Liz-lady had finally pulled away.  
  
"Vernon.if I asked you to choose between me and your wife.who would you choose?" she whispered.  
  
"I'd be crazy not to choose you." replied Uncle Vernon huskily.  
  
"Listen.. I'd be yours forever.if you divorce that disgusting wife of yours.What'd you say?"  
  
Uncle Vernon sat up abruptly and shook his head.  
  
"What? I mean.I can't do that! I love Dudley and well, they're my family, and I can't imagine not having Dudley in my life."  
  
Liz looked at Uncle Vernon angrily. "Fine then, Vernon, if that's so, we're through! I can't believe you!" She got up and was about to walk out the door when Uncle Vernon grabbed her hand.  
  
"Fine, Liz, just give me some time, and I'll divorce Petunia, ok? I don't want our relationship to be over.. I need you, baby. I just need more time." pleaded Uncle Vernon.  
  
Harry couldn't believe his ears. Uncle Vernon was really going to do it? All for some random woman? How low can he get?  
  
Liz looked at Uncle Vernon and finally said, "Oh, alright, I'll give you more time. Just make sure you do it."  
  
Uncle Vernon pulled her close and they kissed again. Liz pulled back after a while and bade Uncle Vernon goodnight. He walked her out of the door and after she left, Uncle Vernon closed the door and slid on the floor, burying his face in his hands.  
  
Harry quickly ran up the stairs quietly and shut his door. He ran to the bed and pulled his blanket up to his head and closed his eyes. He could hear Uncle Vernon coming up the stairs after some time and heard the bedroom door close. Harry laid there for a while, troubled at what he had just heard and seen, wishing he hadn't crept downstairs. Should he tell Aunt Petunia although she had been mean to him all the time? Harry fell into a troubled sleep with all the words he had just heard floating into his mind.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
Morning came and Harry quickly got dressed, and dragged his huge, heavy trunk down the stairs. Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen as usual, cooking breakfast, humming a song to herself. Dudley was in the living room, on the phone with his friend. Uncle Vernon was not, however, reading the daily newspaper. He was just sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space with black bags under his eyes. He looked terrible. Harry figured that he hadn't slept all night.  
  
Aunt Petunia set breakfast on the table and untied her apron. She sat down beside Uncle Vernon and called Dudley to the table. Dudley ran to the kitchen and pushed the door with a mighty crash. He sat his fat bottom on the chair and started shoving down his food. Harry looked at his cousin in disgust and started eating his own breakfast. Aunt Petunia beamed at Dudley and picked up her fork, poked a slice of bacon and placed it into her mouth. Uncle Vernon didn't even glance at his food. Dudley eyed his father's untouched breakfast.  
  
"Dad, you eating that?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"Nope, my son, you may have it." Uncle Vernon replied restlessly and got up from his chair. "I'm going to work now. See you all tonight."  
  
"Vernon," said Aunt Petunia, "You can't go to work on an empty stomach. You have to eat a little. Are you feeling alright?"  
  
"Yeah, just a little stressed out." grunted Uncle Vernon. "See ya tonight. Take care, Dudders."  
  
With that, Uncle Vernon picked up his briefcase and without combing his hair, he left the house. Harry hopped off the chair and ran after Uncle Vernon.  
  
"Uncle V, you have to send me to Platform 9 and ¾. I'm going back to school today." Harry reminded Uncle Vernon.  
  
"Ok, hurry up and get your butt in the car." Uncle Vernon said, walking towards his car.  
  
Harry ran back into the house and shoved his last bit of toast into his mouth and drank up the milk.  
  
"Taa, Aunt Petunia and Dudley. See ya'll next year!!!"said Harry brightly, dashing out of the kitchen and dragging his trunk behind him. Uncle Vernon was already sitting in the car, gripping the steering and staring blankly at his dashboard. Harry struggled as he carried his trunk and put it into the boot of the car. He slammed it shut and got into the car. He looked at Uncle Vernon as he weakly stepped on the gas pedal.  
  
"Dammit, what the hell is wrong with this car? It wouldn't start, for god's sake." Uncle Vernon yelled, punching the steering wheel.  
  
"Uh, Uncle? You have to turn on the ignition first." said Harry slowly, as if he was teaching a 1-year-old baby how to read Shakespeare.  
  
"Huh? Right.the ignition.yeah."said Uncle Vernon, turning red as he turned on the engine. He stepped on the gas pedal and zoomed off to the train station, leaving clouds of stirred up dust behind. 


	5. Many meetings

Chapter 5-Many meetings  
  
The awkward silence in the car was well.awkward. Silence hung in the air as Uncle Vernon drove through the town, missing a few red lights and almost knocking over an old lady carrying her groceries, causing her dentures to drop off and chattering all over the place. She chased him all the way to the U-bend, waving her walking stick at him angrily.  
  
"Ok, Harry, you're here. Now get out of my car and I don't want to see your face again for the rest of the year- if possible, for the rest of my freakin life!!!"screamed Uncle Vernon as they reached the train station just in time.  
  
"Alright, alright, Uncle V,"said Harry, startled at the sudden outburst, holding his hands out in front of him to shield himself. "I'm gone, for the rest of the year! Yahoo! See ya, don't ever wanna be ya!!"sung Harry whole- heartedly.  
  
"AND DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME UNCLE V AGAIN, MR P!!!!!!!!!!!"barked Uncle Vernon, pointing a finger at Harry.  
  
Harry just smiled and got out of the car. He opened the boot and heaved out his trunk. As he closed the boot, Uncle Vernon drove off, and the smoke from the car exhaust left Harry choking in a cloud of dust and the smoke made it impossible to see around him. Harry stumbled around blindly and accidentally knocked into someone.  
  
"Opps! I'm so sorry; I can't see anything right now-"apologized Harry, as another voice cut him short.  
  
"Well, well, what have we here? A little itty-bitty Potter lost his way to the train station? Can you be any more stupid? Oh, right, I forgot, you don't have any brains!!!"came a cold, drawling voice belonging to Harry's archenemy, Draco Malfoy.  
  
The smoke finally cleared off, and Harry saw Malfoy standing just a few feet away from him, with a big smirk on his face. Malfoy's sidekicks, Crabbe and Goyle, were standing beside him, laughing stupidly at Malfoy's lame joke. Harry would bet his broomstick that Crabbe and Goyle had no idea what they were laughing at; it might take them at least a week to figure it out.  
  
"Hey, grease-ball! Leave Harry alone!" Someone said loudly. It was Ron, Harry's best friend. He walked up to Harry, and stood beside him.  
  
Harry beamed at his friend and dropped his trunk. They both hugged each other and smiled.  
  
"It's been a while since I've seen you, Ron! How's everything goin'?"  
  
"Oh, everythin's cool, Harry. How'r you?"  
  
"Fine, man, it's so good to see you-"  
  
"Alright, you two little love birds, break it off before you make me sick to my stomach." drawled Malfoy, as he pretended to barf.  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy, you're just jealous you don't have a gay partner, since Crabbe and Goyle are one!" shot Hermione, as she walked up to her two best friends and smiling at them.  
  
Harry and Ron goggled at her, wide-eyed. Even Malfoy and his sidekicks stared at her, not believing what they were seeing.  
  
Standing in front of them was Hermione.just not the same old Hermione they had seen for the past 5 years. It was a totally changed Hermione. She had gotten rid of her bushy brown hair, and it had been straightened and tied back into a neat ponytail. She was wearing a sleeveless tank top with a bell-bottom jeans, and a little of her mid-drift could be seen. Her two front teeth had somehow been shrunk, and when she smiled, her teeth were all perfectly in line. She looked really amazing.  
  
"Uh. Hermione? Is that really you?" asked Ron, squinting at her, and rubbing his eyes. "I really must be dreaming! Good, now I can dream about Captain Oreo again!"  
  
"Yeow!"yelped Ron, as Harry pinched him hard to show that he wasn't dreaming. "What? I like Captain Oreo!" muttered Ron, rubbing his bruise.  
  
Malfoy raised an eyebrow at Ron and Harry. "Captain Oreo?!" he repeated. "How lame can you get, Weasley?" He then turned to Hermione, and being unusually polite, he said, "Hey, Granger, looking pretty fine, I should say. Come on, Crabbe, Goyle."he said to his sidekicks, waving a hand.  
  
"Mmmmmm."teased Ron, as they looked at Malfoy walking away. "Looks like SOMEONE's got a new admirer!"  
  
Hermione started to blush and was about to say something when she stopped. The three turned around and saw Hagrid, the Hogwarts's gamekeeper. He was wearing a coat, which looked a lot like a blanket, and had kept his hair long, tying it back into a ponytail, looking similarly like Bill's hairstyle.  
  
"Ey, 'arry, Ron.'ermione?! Izzat really the 'ermione I know?" beamed Hagrid, looking at three of his friends.  
  
Hermione giggled and ran over to Hagrid, hugging him and he scooped three of them up into his arms, giving them a bone-crushing bear hug. Hagrid was so happy he had tears in his eyes. Hagrid put them down and Harry rubbed his head, which had collided with Ron's elbow as Hagrid hugged them just now.  
  
"Yes, Hagrid, it's me. I just changed my image, that's all, I'm still the same old Hermione." Hermione told Hagrid.  
  
"Yer wanna watch yerself dis year, 'ermione,"said Hagrid, "Lots of guys are gonna chase afta yer."  
  
"Oh, Hagrid, that's a little too late. Malfoy already fancies her!" teased Harry, laughing together with Ron.  
  
"Really, 'ermione? Dat scumbag ain't good stuff, don't let im get too close to yer."warned Hagrid. "Well, gotta go now, see yerselves into da train now, would cha?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, Hagrid. See you later!" replied Harry as Hagrid walked away, causing a few Muggles to stare at him.  
  
The three friends walked over to the barrier separating Platform 9 and 10 and one by one, without attracting any attention, ran into the barrier and emerged at Platform 9 and ¾. The Hogwarts train was filled with many excited students, all who couldn't wait to return to Hogwarts. Many guys stared at Hermione as she walked past them, and others whistled at her.  
  
Harry and Ron exchanged looks, and boarded the train. They passed many compartments and they also passed Ginny's. She looked up and as Harry met her eye, she turned into crimson red, matching her hair, and turned away, continuing to talk to her friends. Her friends looked up at Harry and gave him a playful smile. He raised his eyebrow and continued down the corridor with the others. At last, they found a compartment all to themselves, and the next one was Malfoy and his gang.  
  
Harry put his trunk under the seat and plopped down on his seat, breathing a huge sigh. Ron plopped next to him, and Hermione sat opposite them. They all started talking at once, discussing about the plans for this year, the events that happened to them during the school holidays and all. They were all laughing at the 'Dudley's spell' thing when the compartment door slid open. Harry, Ron and Hermione all turned to look who it was and standing there was a girl of about their age.  
  
She was fairly attractive, with smooth skin and glossed thin lips. Her eyelashes were curled up and she was wearing a small shirt that exposed her mid-drift with low-cut jeans. Her hair was tied up stylishly with her blond bangs hanging beside her face and she was holding a glittery purse. She looked at the three of them with a look that matched Malfoy's bored look.  
  
"Excuse me," she said with a slight American accent. "Would you mind if I sit with you people? All the other compartments are full. I wouldn't want to sit here if all the compartments weren't filled up." She waved a perfectly manicured hand at them.  
  
"Well.. yeah.I guess." said Ron uncertainly, casting a look at Harry and Hermione, who were looking pretty annoyed at the girl.  
  
"Why, thank you.I guess." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and taking a seat next to Hermione. She opened up her purse and started rummaging around for something. She took out her make-up kit and started fixing her make-up.  
  
"Do any of you happen to have a mirror with you?" she asked looking up at them.  
  
"Err.hold on.I think I have one somewhere."said Hermione, opening her trunk and out popped loads and loads of books. She looked around and flashed an embarrassed smile, stuffing it all back in. The girl looked on disapprovingly. "There you go." said Hermione, handing her a small mirror.  
  
"It's about time," The girl replied, taking the mirror from Hermione. She looked at the mirror and screwed up her nose." Err.do you have a bigger and nicer one?" she asked, looking back at Hermione. Hermione looked like she was about to give the girl a good slap. Ron pulled her back and quietly asked her to calm down.  
  
"No, Miss Prim and Proper. I do not happen to have a NICER nor BIGGER one." Hermione replied through clenched teeth, balling up her fists.  
  
"Oh well," said the girl dramatically, "I guess I'll HAVE to make do with this." She held it up on front of her and continued fixing her make-up.  
  
"What's her problem?" mouthed Harry to Ron. Ron just shrugged. 


	6. Back to school

Chapter 6-Back to school  
  
The trip to Hogwarts seemed pretty long, with the vain girl fixing her make- up once every fifteen minutes. The trolley-lady pushed the trolley in to sell all kinds of delicious snacks. Harry had bought all the different kinds of sweets to share with his buddies. He did offer the girl some, but she just screwed up her nose and turned away, saying, "I don't eat this kind of.cheap stuff."  
  
Ten minutes before they reached, they were reminded by an invinsible speaker to put on their Hogwarts's robes. Ron, who seemed very happy to finally have a brand-new robe, not second-handed, quickly slipped it on and gave Harry a smug smile. Harry took his own crumpled robes and wore it. The other two girls were given some privacy while they changed.  
  
The train finally stopped after the long journey and Harry, Ron and Hermione heaved a sigh of relieve. The girl was starting to really get on their nerves. Everyone pulled out their trunks and queued up to get out of the train. The girl finally returned Hermione her 'small and ugly'mirror. Harry pushed all their sweet wrappers into a dustbin the size of a walnut and the dustbin gobbled it all up, licking it's lips and giving a loud, horribly smelly burp. As the vain girl, who was in front of them, stepped off the train, she turned to the three of them and said, "Thanks for.uh.everything. And by the way, my name's Heather, Heather Ianthe."  
  
"Uh, ok, Heather, I'm Ron, this is Harry and this is Hermione."said Ron, pointing to his two friends who forced a smile.  
  
Heather nodded and walked away. Harry and his friends dragged their trunks to a cart, where it rolled autonomously away through a large door. As they were walking, they heard Hagrid's familiar roll-call.  
  
"All first years, come this way. Follow me, dun be frightened now."  
  
Harry waved at Hagrid, who returned it with a hurried wave and smile. They walked on, following the queue. Colin Creevey and his little brother, Dennis Creevey, spotted Harry and ran hungrily to him and started shaking both of his hands hard.  
  
"Hi, Harry! Long time no see, eh? How're you? Man, I miss you, old chump!"babbled Colin, looking wide-eyed at Harry, still shaking his hand hard.  
  
"Yeah.what he said!"said Dennis, beaming widely at Harry as if he was some kind of miracle God, shaking Harry's other hand.  
  
"Uh.well." Harry tried to speak as the Creevey brothers shook his hands aggressively, causing his glasses to slide off his nose and was hanging on an ear.  
  
Ron and Hermione rushed to Harry's aid. Hermione obstinately released Colin's grip from Harry's hand.Ron, on the other hand, twanged Dennis's hand, and due to Dennis's protective instinct, he bashed Ron on the head with his free hand. Ron and Dennis started a little struggle, and Dennis, being small and swift, pulled Ron's pants down. Ron shrieked and lifted his pants up, holding it into place.  
  
Harry and Hermione looked on with amusement, and Harry whispered to Hermione, "He even wears Captain Oreo's boxers?"  
  
Hermione laughed and smacked Harry on his arm. Many people were starting to crowd around to see what all the commotion was about. Colin had jumped on Ron's back and was trying to bite Ron's shoulder, when a drawling voice rang.  
  
"Alright, alright, PREFECT coming through." Malfoy said, emphasising on the 'prefect' part as he strained to get through the thick crowd, who kept on pushing him back. He finally managed to jump in, sticking his chest out like some Superman. It was actually to show people his 'PREFECT' badge pinned smartly on his green Slytherins robes.  
  
"Ya okey-dokey. What's all the commotion here? Tell the PREFECT." He said as he paused to show his badge to the crowd, who all didn't bother to say anything. "That's me, DRACO MALFOY, this year's PREFECT." He said, once again pointing to his badge. "Oh, I see, it's weasel and Potty's number one fan's kid brother. How ordinary. What are you two fighting about? To see which one of you get Potty's hand in marriage?"he asked mockingly.  
  
Ron and Dennis couldn't be bothered with Malfoy and continued their fight. Malfoy looked on for a while with an annoyed look, expecting them to stop any moment. When they didn't, he narrowed his eyes, sucked in lots of air, and yelled.  
  
"HEY YOU TWO DUMB ASSES!!! I SAID KNOCK IT OFF! I'M A PREFECT."he paused to point to his badge, and sucking in more air, he continued, "AND IF YOU TWO PIPSQUEAKS DON'T LISTEN TO ME,I HAVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR HOUSE POINTS..." Malfoy smiled at the thought and lowered his voice. " Which would be pretty interesting," He rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Since you two ARE from GRYFFINDOR." He added, letting out a super villian high-pitched laugh, which startled everyone, making the whole crowd quiet.  
  
Malfoy looked around and seeing everyone's startled face, he cleared his throat and mumbled, "There's nothing to see here, people, so KINDLY proceed, you're causing a jam." Everyone miraculously followed his instructions and walked away.  
  
Ron and Dennis had stopped fighting, not wanting of all the people to be Malfoy to deduct their house points. Ron got up and brushed his robes, looking rather annoyed. Colin hauled Dennis up and dragged him away by the hand, and Dennis stuck his tongue out at Ron before they disappeared into the crowd.  
  
Malfoy looked happy with his power to control other students and he walked up to Hermione.  
  
"Hello, my little honey bun,"he said sweetly, using a finger to touch Hermione's face. "See what a PREFECT" Again, pointing to his badge, "can do with all this wonderful power." He placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her close. "Imagine being a PREFECT'S girl."he whispered into her ear, and kissed her on the cheek. Hermione pushed him away disgustingly and Malfoy laughed, walking away.  
  
"Eww eww eww!!! Get it off, get it off!!!" Hermione shrieked as she viciously rubbed her cheek. "That was the most disgusting thing ever!"  
  
"Ohhh, Malfoy's honey bun, don't deny it, I know you like it!"said Harry, who doubled over, choking with laughter.  
  
"H..o..o..n.e.y.. b..u.n.n.?" Ron said in disbelief as he tried to get the words out in between laughter.  
  
Hermione glared at them and folded her arms across her chest. She turned away and was about to walk away when she collided into somebody.  
  
"Off, oh, pardon me, I'm so sorry." Hermione trailed off as she looked up and stared into the eyes of the most gorgeous guy she had ever met in her life.He had light blue eyes with the most charming face ever. He was tall, built and had short auburn hair neatly spiked up with gel.  
  
"Oh, umm, sorry." He said as he looked at her and smiled a 'Darlie toothpaste advertistment' smile.  
  
"Well, uhh." Hermione said dumbstruck. "It was my fault. I didn't see where I was going."  
  
"Whoever's fault it was, doesn't matter. Noone got hurt, anyway."he said, smiling. "Intro,"he said, holding out his hand, "I'm Jeremy Amsden, a new exchange student from LA. And who might this polite lady be?"  
  
"Uhhh."she said, not knowing what to do. "I'm.Her.Her.Her."  
  
"Her who?" Jeremy asked, looking round. "You're a clone or something?"  
  
"Actually, her name's Hermione." Harry said cutting in. "Granger's the surname."  
  
"Oh, and you are."  
  
"Harry Potter."  
  
"The scar-boy?"  
  
"I guess so. if that's what you refer me to."  
  
"And who's your funny friend?"  
  
"I'm Ronald Weasley. You can call me Ron. Everyone calls me that." Ron introduced himself, shaking Jeremy's hand.  
  
"Ok, cool. It's nice to meet you, Hermione, Harry and Ron. See you around?"  
  
"Yeah, ok, Jeremy." Ron said,waving.  
  
"You can call me J. All my friends call me that." Jeremy said to them, smiling his brilliant smile. "See ya."  
  
He turned and jogged up the Hogwarts's stairs.  
  
"Hermione?" Ron looked at her, who was staring at where Jeremy stood a while ago, with a dreamy look on her face. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I think.I think I'm in love!"she said happily, floating on cloud number nine as they walked up the stairs and entered the Hogwarts's Grand Hall. 


	7. New students and staffs at Hogwarts

Chapter 7-New students and staffs at Hogwarts  
  
The Grand Hall was magnificent, as usual. It was decorated magically everywhere. All four-house banners were hung above their house tables. The lion, badger, snake and raven were all animated and doing their own actions. Lots of students were already seated at their house tables. Ron, Hermione and Harry walked to their house tables and met Neville Longbottom with a couple of classmates. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were peeping excitedly into a small quivering box. They all exchanged hellos and Harry, Ron and Hermione sat on empty seats. Hermione craned her neck and looked around.  
  
"Who're you looking for?" asked Harry, following Hermione's gaze.  
  
"Someone." She replied curtly.  
  
"Malfoy's at his house table." Harry stated a matter of factly. "And he's waving at you."  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to look over at Slytherin's table. Malfoy caught her eye and winked at her. Hermione moaned aloud and turned away, still searching for someone.  
  
"Ok, if not Malfoy." Harry paused to stroke his chin and think. "How about Jeremy?"  
  
Hermione jumped a little at the sound of his name.  
  
"Why on earth would I want to search for Jeremy?" she asked hotly.  
  
Ron raised an eyebrow as though the answer was very obvious. "Because you like him?" he said slowly. "Duh!"  
  
Hermione started to blush furiously.  
  
"Oh, look! There's your lover boy!" Harry said suddenly, pointing to Jeremy who was sitting at the other end of the Gryffindor table, talking to a group of friends and a very pretty girl sitting next to him. Jeremy looked up and spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione. He waved, said something to his friends and stood up with the pretty girl and another guy following him.  
  
"Hey guys, zup?" Jeremy said as he reached Harry. They shook hands again and Jeremy, the girl and the other guy sat on empty seats next to Ron. Jeremy leaned over and crossed his arms.  
  
"Hey, J, you're in Gryffindor too?" asked Ron.  
  
"Actually, I haven't been told what house I'm in yet. I have to wait for the Sorting, right?" Jeremy asked.  
  
"Right, the Sorting. It's going to start soon." Harry said.  
  
"Yeah. Hope I'm in Gryffindor." He said hopefully, and then said, "Guys, meet my friends."  
  
He pointed to the pretty girl. "This is Hailie Landers, one of my best buddies. She's in 6th grade this year. She's also from my hometown. You guys are in 6th grade, right?"  
  
Hermione nodded and Jeremy smiled. "Great," He said, "You'll be classmates."  
  
Hailie smiled shyly and shook their hands. "Nice to meet you." she said softly.  
  
Harry took her hand and smiled, saying, "Welcome to Hogwarts, Hailie, you're going to have a blast."  
  
"And this," Jeremy punched the guy playfully on the shoulder, "Is my ever popular, funny and nice bestest best pal of all times, the one and only, Steven Dalton!"  
  
Steven smiled a smile sort of similar to the Darlie Advertistment smile and shook hands with all of them.  
  
"Hey, any friend of Jer's a friend of mine!" he said, beaming.  
  
Ron looked at Steven, shook his hand and said, "I think I'm going to like you a lot!"  
  
The Hall was beginning to fill up with students and teachers. A bald man with only a little hair at his ears stepped up at Professor Dumbledore's place. He magiked a horn out of thin air and it blasted loudly, causing the hanging crystal lights hung up high above the Hogwarts ceiling to tingle dangerously. The candelabras that were floating around giving out light were blown back by the wind of the blast and their light burned out. They grumbled angrily, stuck out their tongue at the bald man and placed the tip of their heads into the fireplace for a while and walked away, with their tips alight again.  
  
The Hall became totally quiet. The man cleared his throat and spoke in a clear tone.  
  
"Welcome, all students of Hogwarts, to another brilliant year at Hogwarts. I know, you all are thinking 'What the heck is that old goat doing standing up there saying Albus's open speech?' Well, I'm here to tell you now, so listen up. Albus would not be here this year due to a very special event to him. He would be taking a year off to spend time with his parents to celebrate their 500th Golden Anniversary. Clap, people!"  
  
The students began clapping.  
  
"Ok, stop. As you all know because Hogwarts cannot run without a Headmaster, I'll be your substitute Headmaster for the year. Clap, students!"  
  
The students clapped again.  
  
"Stop. Now please allow me to introduce myself. I am Reuben Redford, Durmstrang's past year's headmaster. I was called forward to substitute for Albus Dumbledore, which is an honor for me, since we all know the famous Albus Dumbledore, the powerful and humble Dumbledore." He said this with deep respect and a tear forming at the corner of his eye was visible.  
  
"I would also like all of you to welcome the newest teacher at Hogwarts, your newest Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, Miss Elizabeth Cheston!" Mr. Redford pointed at the Great Hall Entrance Door and it swung open majestically. A lady wearing a Hogwarts teacher's robe walked in, swinging her hips weirdly. All eyes were on her as she made her way to the high table. She sat down on an empty seat next to Professor McGonagall and scanned around the Hall, observing all the students with her small, fierce looking eyes.  
  
"Okay, everyone, give a round of applause for Miss Cheston!" Mr. Redford clapped his hands and the Hall followed suit.  
  
"I hope you all would make Miss Cheston comfortable in this school, since it's her first time teaching. Don't bully her now, she has a pretty bad temper, you know." He looked at Miss Cheston and winked. "That's all you need to know now, so let the feast begin!"  
  
He waved his hand and all the empty plates that were laid on the table were filled up with magnificent food of all sorts. Everyone started eating immediately, and the chatter started again. The teachers sitting at the high table also started eating and making conversation with other teachers.  
  
"Mmmm, this is good stuff." Ron said as he gobbled everything up.  
  
Harry looked at him in disgust and started on his own food. Jeremy and Hailie looked impressed at the food and started trying out all the different kinds of food. Hermione was just pushing her food around with the end of her fork, staring at Jeremy's cute face while he was eating.  
  
The feast ended after a while, when all of the students were full. The plates were cleared and disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
  
Reuben Redford stood up again. He cleared his throat and said briefly, "Now for the Sorting!"  
  
Professor McGonagall appeared out of nowhere, carrying the tattered Sorting Hat that was sitting on a plush cushion. She placed it on a chair and walked back to her seat.  
  
Everyone was quiet for a while and the Hat opened up his brim and started singing the Hogwarts's song. After it was done, everyone clapped and Professor McGonagall stood next to the Hat. She magiked a long piece of parchment and started calling out the entire first-years names. It took quite a while, seeing that there were so many new first-years.  
  
Finally, after "Zakariah, Danny" was called, Professor McGonagall magiked another piece of parchment that was much shorter then the first and started calling out the new students name.  
  
"Amsden, Jeremy!" she called, looking out of breathe.  
  
Jeremy got up, gave a thumbs up to his friends and jogged over to the hat.  
  
"Yo, cute Hat!" Jeremy said as he picked it up and placed it on his head.  
  
Hermione was praying and praying, keeping her fingers crossed and mumbling 'Please let him be Gryffindor' under her breath.  
  
The Hat kept quiet for a while and then shouted 'Gryffindor!'  
  
The Gryffindor table gave a loud applause as Jeremy made his way back to the Gryffindor table. A few other student's name were called and then, 'Dalton, Steven!"  
  
Jeremy gave his buddy a thumbs up as he walked up to the Hat. It took a little while for the Hat to say, 'Gryffindor!'  
  
Steven happily walked back to his place and slapped all his friends high fives.  
  
'Ianthe, Heather's name was called and Harry, Ron and Hermione looked up. The vain girl they had met on the train made her was briskly to the Hat, placed it on her perfectly tied head and sat down.  
  
"Slytherin!" The Hat shouted at once. She looked satisfied as she took the hat off and walked to the Slytherin table, where she was greeted warmly.  
  
"Landers, Hailie!"  
  
Jeremy and Steven patted her on her back as she made her way nervously to the Hat.  
  
"This is definitely a Gryffindor!" Someone said as she walked past the Ravenclaw table.  
  
She took the Hat meekly from the chair and placed it on her head. "Gryffindor!" The Hat said loudly.  
  
Hailie looked so happy she ran all the way back to the Gryffindor table and hugged all of her friends. When the last name was called, everyone gave a sigh of relief and stretched themselves.  
  
Mr. Redford got up again. "Prefects, please lead all students back to their dormitories! I wish you all a pleasant night!"  
  
Malfoy immediately sprang up from his place at the sound of 'Prefect' and walked proudly to the front.  
  
Everyone was led back to their dormitories and they were all given the same room they had every year and everyone fell asleep almost immediately. 


	8. Busted

Chapter 8-Busted  
  
"Morning, Harry!" said Ron cheerfully as he got out of bed, tossing a pillow at Harry, who was still snuggled in his blanket, fast asleep. The pillow landed on Harry's head with a poof, and Harry groaned.  
  
"Ron, you dumb-butt. Stop it. Let me go back to bed." Harry dozed off again.  
  
"Harry, you hairy berry." Ron said, as he walked over to shake his friend. Ron pulled Harry's blanket off and Harry flinched, clutching himself and still closing his eyes.  
  
"Give me one good reason why I should listen to you.."mumbled Harry, half- asleep.  
  
"Harry, my boy, if you don't get up, we're going to be late for breakfast, and miss the post, and get our house points taken away by Snapy-yappy if we're late for his class. which I should remind you, is our first lesson of the year." babbled Ron, counting his fingers, "That's three good reasons."  
  
Ron smirked as Harry sat up stiffly and dragged himself to the bathroom, walking like a zombie who had just woken up after 20 centuries. He didn't notice the closed bathroom door, and smashed right into it.  
  
"Yeowchies!"shouted Harry, rubbing his forehead.  
  
Ron rolled over with laughter, slapping his head. Harry scowled at Ron and pushed open the door roughly, got inside and slammed it shut. Ron was still laughing himself silly when Dean and Neville woke up.  
  
"What's all the hullaballo?"asked Dean, sitting up and rubbing his eyes sleepily.  
  
"H..a..r.r..y.." Ron tried to speak but he failed. He continued laughing, rolling all over the room stupidly.  
  
"Ehh. Ron? Are you okay?" asked Neville, looking uncertainly at Ron.  
  
"He's just being idiotic. What a retard." stated Harry, stepping out from the bathroom, wiping his wet hair with his towel.  
  
Neville looked frightened at Ron's behavior and backed off. Dean raised his eyebrow and walked over to Ron. He held Ron by his Captain Oreo's pyjamas and slapped Ron on his cheek.  
  
"Snap out of it, Ron!" Dean repeated as he continued slapping Ron.  
  
Ron's laughing streak turned to howls. Dean stopped slapping him and stood back. Ron grumbled as he massaged his sore cheeks, which had turned bright red. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door.  
  
"Hey, Ron? Hurry up, will ya? We're gonna be late for breakfast!" shouted Dean, rapping the door with his knuckles.  
  
"Mmm."came Ron's voice, who, by the sound of his voice, seem to be brushing his teeth.  
  
Harry placed his towel on a hook. It immediately sprang up, took the towel and blew it dry. It then folded it neatly and placed it on the bed. Harry walked over to the dressing table and combed his hair. It didn't make much difference whether he combed it or not, it was still messy and sticking out in every direction.  
  
After Ron, Dean and Neville were done, they went down to the Grand Hall for breakfast.  
  
* * * * * * * * * ( Meanwhile. at the Dursleys. )  
  
"Really, tutsie? You won this trophy all by yourself?" sobbed Uncle Vernon's mum, hadly daring to believe what she was seeing. Vernon's mum was a huge lady, larger than Aunt Marge and Vernon combined together.  
  
"Yeah, mum," said Uncle Vernon proudly, puffing out his chest. "All by myself."  
  
"I simply have to say, my son," confessed Vernon's dad, who was a high- class business manager who was filthy rich; "I never really did thought you had it in you. I thought you were just some screwed up son of mine. I underestimated your ability, and for that, I must ask you to pardon me for my rude behavior in the past." He spoke in a classy tone, like all rich millionaires.  
  
"Really, Daddy?" asked Vernon, teary-eyed. For his whole entire life, he had been trying to impress his dad and to prove him wrong and now, he had actually done it. Vernon felt like he had just won a battle between him and a 100-headed lion.  
  
"Oh, tutsie!!! I'm so proud of you!" shrieked Vernon's mum, running over to hug her son, squeezing him into an anaconda hug. Vernon's eyes were popping and it looked like they were going to pop off his eye sockets any moment.  
  
"Oookkkkk mmmuummm,"wheezed Vernon, as she finally let go of him. He panted loudly and tried to get back his breath. She took out a large handkerchief from her large purse and started sobbing and sneezing into it. Aunt Petunia rushed towards her and tried to coax her.  
  
"Pretty nice trophy you won, son," said Vernon's dad, "May I suggest placing it in my trophy case at my head office so everyone can see what a great son I have?"  
  
"You mean it?" stammered Vernon. This was too much for him to take. One minute he was just some unexisted son and the next he was his dad's pride and joy. Vernon held his head. He felt the room spinning and fainted on the floor.  
  
"Well," said Vernon's dad. "I suppose that's a yes."  
  
He was about to pick the trophy up when his hand accidentally brushed against the miniature man. Its head fell off its shoulders and dropped onto the floor, rolling until it stopped at Vernon's dad's foot, its eyes staring up at him.  
  
"Errr."said Aunt Petunia uncertainly, looking at the two shocked faces of her in-laws. Vernon, who had just recovered from his faint, sat up and looked at everyone with a puzzled face, wondering why they all looked so shocked.  
  
"What the hell is this?! Is this some kind of stupid joke? I do not think this is funny at all!!! Damn you, you screwed up son!" shouted Vernon's dad suddenly, pointing a finger at Vernon, who looked like he was about to cry, since he had no idea what had just hit him. "You want to fool your old man, don't you? You think that a rich old man is too stupid to know your tricks? I was once again wrong about you! Damn you, Vernon Augustineous Dursley! Never ever expect me to call you son again, and never let me see your lousy piggy face ever again!"  
  
Everyone was shocked at Vernon's dad's sudden outburst. No one had ever realized that Vernon's dad had an anger problem, and that he was secretly going under anger management therapy. No one knew that Vernon had a middle name, either. A very lame one.Augustineous. Vernon's mum hurriedly led her husband outside, ashamed at what just happened. She shook her head disappointedly at her son before shutting the door. They both got into a limo, which was waiting for them outside and sped off.  
  
Vernon crawled towards the door, begging on his knees, shouting for his parents.  
  
"Please, mum, dad! Give me another chance! What did I do wrong this time? I will change to please you! Please. please!"  
  
But there was no one there to hear him, only Aunt Petunia, who was still shocked at what had just happened. Dudley wasn't there, since he was over at his friend's house pulverizing some geek kid for outsmarting Dudley and his thugs.  
  
Vernon sat at the doorstep, clutching his hair. He couldn't believe it. Someone had screwed it up for him. He had finally proved to his parents he wasn't a failure and now.they didn't want to ever see him again. Petunia wasn't much of help, for she was still goggling at the trophy's head. He suddenly thought of someone. He stood up, grabbed his windbreaker and put it on. He was about to walk out the door when Aunt Petunia spoke.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"Out."  
  
"Let me follow you."  
  
"No!" barked Uncle Vernon as he slammed the door impatiently.  
  
He felt the cool breeze slapping against his face as he walked. It felt so nice, so refreshing. He smiled as he thought of Liz's pretty face as he made his way to her house. 


	9. Confessions

Chapter 9-Confessions  
  
"Mornin, Harry and Ron." Jeremy said as he saw them walking down the stairs. Hermione was already at the table with Hailie, eating their breakfasts. Steven was sitting next to Jeremy, but he wasn't eating his breakfast. He was staring at something, or someone, attentively.  
  
Harry and Ron took seats next to Steven. Harry immediately started eating, since he was famished. Ron, however, was looking at Steven.  
  
"Morning, Steven..."said Ron. Steven didn't move a little at the sound of his name.  
  
"Earth to Steven! I come in peace!" Ron flailed his hands in front of Steven.  
  
"Huh? Oh, hi, Ron! Hey, Harry! Didn't see you two coming down." said Steven, who seemed to finally snap out of his trance.  
  
"Well, you know, you were in some kind of trace. So, who're you looking at?" asked Ron excitedly, jabbing Steven with his elbow. "Is it a girl?"  
  
Steven didn't reply but his cheeks turned pink.  
  
"Ah ha!!!" said Ron triumphantly, slapping the table with his palm. "So it is a girl! Come on! Tell me who, tell me who!!!" Ron was so excited he was practically jumping up and down.  
  
"Well...I don't think I should..."said Steven shyly.  
  
"Awww, come on, Stevy! I might know her... she might even be my sister!"  
  
"Ummm... ok... it's that Ginny girl from 5th year. Don't tell anyone, ok? Please! Only you and Jer knows about it."  
  
"Well, make that Harry, Hermione, Hailie, Ron and Jeremy..."chipped in Hailie. "Since we all heard it!"  
  
"Damn!"muttered Steven, looking kind of pissed.  
  
"Come on, Steve! You know you can trust us!" persuaded Hailie. "Don't get pissed!"  
  
"Hmmm...Ginny...why does that a-ring a bell somewhere?" asked Ron, knocking his head as he tried to think.  
  
"Uhhh...Ron? It's your sister!" said Hermione unbelievably. "Steve? You like Ron's sister?"  
  
"YOU LIKE MY SISTER?!" gasped Ron, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing.  
  
"Shhhhh!!!"shushed Steven, smacking Ron on the head. Ron was caught off guard and his head splattered into his plate of untouched meatloaf.  
  
"Hey, what was that for?!" Ron asked crossly, his eyes shut because the meatloaf had gotten into his eyes. He felt around for his napkin and his hands felt cloth. He picked it up and wiped his face with it.  
  
"Ron!!!"screamed Hailie outrageously. Ron opened his eyes in time to see Hailie's hand came smacking down on his head, and once again, he smacked face first into his meatloaf. "That's my robe!!!"  
  
"Sorryyyy."apologised Ron, getting pretty annoyed. "Why does everyone keep on doing that? Is today the official 'Let's-smack-Ron-face-first-into-his- uneaten-meatloaf' day? Sheesh."  
  
"I'm sorry, Ron. You lifted up my robe. It's called defense mechanism, you know." Hailie pointed out.  
  
"Ron," said Steven suddenly. "Is Ginny really your sister? Don't kid around with me."  
  
"Does this look like a 'hey, I'm kidding!' face to you?" asked Ron, pointing to his own face, making a serious face. It would've been serious- looking, if it wasn't for the meatloaf gravy dripping from his chin and cheeks.  
  
"Errr...I guess so." admitted Steven. "You have to swear on all honors, never ever ever EVER tell your sis, promise? Do the girly cheerleaders promise thingy. How does it go again?"  
  
"Cheer what?" asked Ron, puzzled. "What's cheer whatever you said?! Is that some kind of lady Dumbledore or something?"  
  
"No, Ron," said Hermione slowly. "Cheerleaders are the Muggle girls who jump around screaming their heads off holding their poofy thingys. Be warned, they are very, and I mean very perky. I have a cousin, who's a cheerleader, and she's so perky, you do not want to meet her. She can make you so pissed off, you'll want to bite her head off."  
  
"Seriously?" asked Harry, who was listening to their conversation while eating his beef spaghetti. "They can't be that bad. The way you describe it, make them sound like a girly version of Snape plus the Durleys."  
  
"Oh, yes. If you don't believe me, try dating one of them. They'll make your brains ooze out." said Jeremy, shivering at the thought of them.  
  
"How do you know?" asked Hermione, raising an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Oh, Jeremy's ex-girlfriend from LA is a cheerleader. She's kinda hot, I guess, since she IS the head cheerleader. All the guys worship her. She has a perfect body and she's sexy too."explained Hailie knowingly. "But they're kapish now. Over, astalavista, baby."  
  
"Oh really? Jeremy has a girlfriend?" Hermione asked, trying to hide her disappointment.  
  
"I HAD a girlfriend. Not has." corrected Jeremy, looking embarrassed that the topic was now about him and his ex-girl.  
  
"Tell me more about her."said Hermione, pretending to look excited. Deep down, she felt like her heart had been ripped to a thousand and one pieces.  
  
"Well..."said Hailie, trying to remember stuff about them.  
  
"I don't think we should." muttered Jeremy, "I don't think they would want to know."  
  
"Yes, I would LOVE to know." said Hermione persistently.  
  
"Well, all I know is that they were REALLY into each other for quite some time. She was pretty crazy about Jeremy and she didn't know it, but Jeremy was kind of attracted to her too. They started going out after one prom night when were each other's dates, I guess. Since then, they were always everywhere together. They won class couple 5 years in a row! Pretty cool, huh?"  
  
"Um, yeah..."mumbled Hermione, feeling worse than ever.  
  
"I have never ever seen such love birds. Even Romeo and Juliet can't beat them. They were a pretty good couple, I guess. She's a head cheerleader, he's the captain of our school Quidditch team. They were like soul mates, but more. The sad thing was that Jeremy caught her kissing one of his Quidditch mate outside school. He was broken-hearted, I tell you, devastated. But at least he got over it." Hazily patted Jeremy on the back and he shrugged.  
  
"How about her?" asked Hermione, "Wasn't she even upset?"  
  
"Not really at first, but when she realized what a great boyfriend he'd been, it was too late. He'd moved on." Hailie said.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey,"said Steven, "We were talking about me and Ron here!" He snapped his fingers at Ron, who seemed to be lost in space. "You have to promise me not to tell your sister..please!!! I beg you!"  
  
"Well, Stevy beavy, I've got some bad news for you. Do you want to hear about it?" asked Ron, shaking his head.  
  
"What is it? Is it something bad? Or something really really bad? Or something extremly bad? Or something so bad –"  
  
"Uh, Steven? Snap out of it." said Ron, looking dully at him. The others were all staring at him with raised eyebrows.  
  
"Um, sorry." Steven cleared his throat uncomfortably. "So, what is it?"  
  
"You know Ginny, she has a terrible crush on Harry Potter since she first laid eyes on him."tsked Ron.  
  
"Ginny likes Harry?" asked Steven unbelievably. "As in this Harry?" Steven pointed at Harry, who looked up in alarm at them, with spaghetti drooling out from his mouth.  
  
"What?" He asked them. "What're you all talking about now?"  
  
"Harry, can you please pay attention?" Hermione said annoyingly.  
  
""It's not like I'm such a busybody like SOME people, you know." he shot back. Hermione rolled her eyes irritatedly at him and crossed her arms.  
  
"Ron said that Ginny likes you, is it true?" asked Steven uneasily.  
  
"I dunno." Harry squirmed in his seat and continued slurping his spaghetti.  
  
"What's wrong with that? I think Harry's really cute." confessed Hailie, looking at Harry.  
  
Harry choked all of a sudden and not daring to meet Hailie's eye, he grabbed any food he could see in front of him and stuffed them into his mouth.  
  
"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Jeremy slyly, looking at Hailie, who started blushing and turned away.  
  
"Olalla! Hailie and Harry sitting on a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!!!"sang Ron as loud as he could.  
  
Smack! Harry reached over and smacked Ron on the head, and you guessed it, he smacked into his meatloaf AGAIN.  
  
"Hey, Stevy,"said Ron while wiping his face with a napkin. "Don't worry. Harry would never go out with Ginny. Right, Harry?"  
  
Harry looked up at Ron, his mouth almost bursting with all kinds of buns stuffed into his mouth. He raised his eyebrow and reached for his goblet. He drank his pumpkin juice and with great difficulty, he managed to swallow the buns.  
  
"Hey, guys, we'd better hurry up and eat. It's almost time for our first lesson of the year." reminded Jeremy. "Hailie, you can follow Harry and the others if you don't know where your class is."  
  
Hailie nodded and started eating. Steven leaned over to Harry and whispered in his ear.  
  
"Are you attracted to Ginny in any way?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Seriously?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why? Don't you think she's cute?"  
  
"Yeah, but just not in THAT kind of way. Just a friendly way."  
  
"Oh. So you won't mind if I chase her, do you?"  
  
"Steven, I don't care. I don't like her, ok? And besides, I think both of you make a good couple."  
  
"Really? You really think so?"  
  
"Yeah. She's cute and small, you're tall and kinda built, you can be her bodyguard and her boyfriend. A two in one package for Ginny. And you can just pick her up and kiss her."  
  
Steven beamed very happily as he thought of what Harry said. He popped his last bit of toast into his mouth and glanced over at Ginny, who was laughing with her friends.  
  
"She's the cutest girl I've ever seen in my life!" thought Steven, blushing. "I want to make her my girl!"  
  
"Hey, Steven?" Jeremy's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "It's time to go! We're having Transfiguration first!"  
  
"Oh, ok." Steven stood up, and wiped his mouth. "Who's the teacher?"  
  
"Pro. McG. She's a nice lady, if you don't provoke her, if you know what I mean." said Ron, nodding is head.  
  
"She's dangerous." added Harry.  
  
"Uh huh."said Steven, raising an eyebrow. "Thanks for the ADVICE, guys, it really helped. So, see you guys later?"  
  
"Ok, see ya!"replied Harry and Ron, waving.  
  
Jeremy looked at Hermione and smiled at her. She looked up and forced a smile. Jeremy and Steven then walked away and up the stairs they went to get to their Transfiguration class.  
  
"Hey, let's go!" said Harry, getting up. "Don't want to late for Snape's class!"  
  
"Yeah, man. Hermione, are you alright?"asked Ron, looking at Hermione with concern. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Is it about the Jeremy thingy?" Ron asked and looking at Hermione's pained face, added, "Aww, c'mon, Hermy! Jeremy HAD a girlfriend, and it's over between them now. Look, they're both like a thousand miles apart! I don't think he cares about her anymore. Cheer up. I think that he secretly likes you too."  
  
"Hey, you know what? I just found out something. Hermy and Jermy. That rhymes, dude!" said Harry suddenly. "Hermy, Jermy, Hermy, Jermy, Hermy, Jermy."  
  
"Harry, knock it off!!!"scowled Ron. "That's kinda annoying. But it rhymes and both ends with 'e-r-m-y! Shows how perfect you two should be!"  
  
Hermione smiled at her friends. "Thanks, guys, for cheering me up." She stood up and tugged both of her friends by the arms. "Now, come on! We're gonna be late for Potions!" 


	10. Potions

Chapter 10-Potions  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione dashed into the dungeons as fast as they could. It was dark and only a few torches lit the dim hallway. The light from the torches casted shadows on the wall, making the dark hallway sinister looking. Hermione was about to take out her wand and light it when they collided into someone. They fell back and landed on their butts.  
  
"Hey!"came a familiar voice as that person spun around. "Watch where-"  
  
Draco stopped as he saw Hermione on the ground.  
  
"Let me help you, my sweet precious little buttercup." He said politely, holding out a hand for Hermione to hold. Ron couldn't help it and gave out a snort. Hermione looked disgustedly at Malfoy and struggled up to her feet.  
  
"I don't need any help from you, Malfoy!"she said angrily. "Why do I keep on meeting you? Are you stalking me?"  
  
"No, I think that's a sign that we should be together forever. Should we?"  
  
"You're sick." Hermione pulled her friends up. Harry's glasses had been damaged really badly and it was crooked to one side of his face. "Here, Harry, let me help you."  
  
She took the glasses and fixed it in a jiffy. She handed it back to Harry who looked grateful and said, "Come on guys, let's go before we're late."  
  
Malfoy looked impressed at Hermione.  
  
"You're smarter then ever, my dear. You should know that being with a prefect is the best thing for you."  
  
"I'll rather marry a slug then ever going out with you!" she replied heatedly. "And you know what?" She pushed on, "I don't care if you're a PREFECT, I won't even care if you're the statue of Liberty! You think you're all that, but you're not! And DON'T you ever call me any of your sickening mushy nicknames you invented for me ever again! I hate every one of it and it makes me want to kill you when you call me that! It's the stupidest thing I ever heard of in my life and it's just stupid!!! Grrr...you make me so angry!!!"  
  
"Hermione, poofy pie, you look so cute when you scream at me." Malfoy said coyly.  
  
"ARGGGGHHH! Malfoy, you dumb boy! I said I do not want to hear any more stupid names from you! Poofy pie is the last straw! If you can't get anything into that thick useless brain of yours, then let me simplify that into baby language to you! Read my lips, I HATE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD!!!"  
  
"Other then Jeremy's ex girlfriend." she added in her mind.  
  
"Ok, Hermsy, read MY lips. I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD!!!"  
  
"You-"Hermione was about to scream something outrageous when Harry and Ron held her back.  
  
"Come on, Hermione, don't waste your time on useless dumb asses like him." said Ron, as he and Harry dragged her away.  
  
"Hey, Weasley, at least I don't like Captain Oreo's." said Malfoy sarcastically. "See you, my lovey dovey princess."  
  
Malfoy then walked into the Potions classroom, leaving Hermione to splutter angrily.  
  
"I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna mash him to pieces. I'm gonna-"  
  
"Gonna what, Miss Granger?" asked an icy voice from behind.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione turned around in alarm and met professor Snape's steely glare.  
  
"N..n..othing, Professor Snape."stammered Hermione.  
  
"Then get into the classroom before I take away your house points." he said icily.  
  
"Yes, Professor." The three of them said and walked into the class.  
  
Malfoy looked up and saw Hermione. He smiled at her and she growled at him. They walked to their places and took their seats.  
  
"Hello, class, welcome back to another year with me. I hate it, but it's my job to teach you Potions. Since Miss Cheston took the Defence Against The Dark Arts job. How unfair." Professor Snape seem to be muttering to himself.  
  
"But ANYWAY," he suddenly said loudly, making everyone jump. "Back to the subject. POTIONS. I'm sure all of you understand what Potions is. So let's just start making a new potion today. Today, the new potion you will be making is the Polyjuice Potion. I've talked about it when you were all in your 2nd year. I wonder how many of you remember it?"  
  
No one put up their hands and Ron was going to put up his hand when Harry kicked him under the desk. Ron suddenly remembered and folded his arms. Hermione's eyes went wide as she remembered that she had turned into a cat when they had made the potion illegally.  
  
"Alright, I don't expect any of you knuckleheads to remember anything anyway. Here are your new textbooks." Professor Snape waved a finger lazily at a pile of book and hovered it to each student. "Now open up to page 12, please."  
  
Harry turned to the page and saw the familiar page that he had seen four years ago in the book from the library called Moste Potente Potions. It had illustrations of people halfway through transforming into other people. The faces of the people transforming had a very excruciating look in their expressions.  
  
"The ingredients you will need can be found in the Potions storeroom." Professor Snape's menacing beady eyes fixed upon his students. "Weasley!"he barked. "Go fetch the items for everyone after I've finished explaining what you are supposed to do. And don't you dare try to steal any ingredients!"  
  
"Yes, Professor Snape."said Ron cantankerously. He rolled his eyes and spat out his tongue at Snape when he wasn't looking. Harry shrugged at Ron. Ron scowled and looked down at the list.  
  
Ingredients  
  
Leeches  
  
Fluxweed  
Knotgrass  
Lacewing Flies  
Powdered horn of Bicorn  
Shredded skin of a Boomslang  
A bit of someone/something you want to change into  
  
Ron wrinkled his face in disgust as he remembered how disgusting it was to swallow a bit of Crabbe's hair. It must be full of dandruff flakes and bits of leftover food. Ron shuddered and he felt his breakfast coming up again. Malfoy raised his hand innocently.  
  
"Yes, Malfoy?"asked Snape in a completely different tone he had used with Ron.  
  
"Whom are we changing into?"  
  
"Oh, just your classmates. You will all be turning into them for only a minute. It's just to test if your remedy works. Then, you'll take the antidote that will be supplied to you. That would change you back into yourselves again."  
  
"Can we change into anyone we want?" Malfoy looked at Hermione, who was steaming from the ears.  
  
"Well, Malfoy,"said Snape, his thin lips curving into a small smile. "That depends. You certainly won't be a girl."  
  
Malfoy put his hand down and he looked disgruntled. Neville, who was hidden in the shadows, raised his hands timidly.  
  
"What, Longbottom? Don't waste my time." snapped Snape.  
  
"Errr...Professor? Can we pick our partners?" he managed to squeak.  
  
"What's the matter, Longbottom? Afraid no one would want to be you? But really, who in their right minds WOULD want to be you? A scatterbrain, a clumsy and forgetful boy, what a horrible mess you are. I really pity your parents for giving birth to one of the most useless boy that ever existed."  
  
"Hey, that's not very nice!" said Hermione angrily, coming up to Neville's defense. Harry turned and saw poor Neville who was trying to hold back his tears.  
  
"Did I ask you a question, Miss Granger?" asked Snape, his voice dangerously soft.  
  
"No, but you didn't have to criticize Neville in such a harsh and insulting way." she answered.  
  
"Well, then, Miss Granger, the smarty pants who is to smart for her own good. Why don't YOU be Neville's partner and change into him?"  
  
Hermione was about to say something when Malfoy cut in.  
  
"Errr...Professor, I'm sure Hermione didn't really mean it. Can we please continue the lesson and not waste more time?"  
  
Snape looked at Malfoy then at Hermione.  
  
"If I hadn't known better," he said icily, feeling defeated for his favorite Slytherin student is against him. "I'll say that you and Granger are seeing each other."  
  
Hermione looked horror struck and looked like she was about to faint. Malfoy, on the other hand, beamed a titanic grin and winked at Hermione.  
  
"Now, about the Polyjuice potion." Snape continued. "It is banned in most countries but in Hogwarts, we are allowed to do this because we are the most trusted school. No students had ever had any serious accidents YET, but I doubt you will be able to keep that record, thanks to Longbottom."  
  
The Slytherins began to snigger and sneer at Neville, who looked very afraid. Snape looked at the scared boy with satisfaction and continued on.  
  
"This potion might take a while, about a month. This is because the lacewings would have to be stewed for twenty-one days and the fluxweed would have to be picked at a full moon. Our next full moon would be...let me see,"  
  
Snape swished his wand and muttered 'calendranimpy!' under his breath.  
  
A golden light flashed for a second, and everyone had to shield their eyes. The light then began to fade slowly, leaving a piece of glittery parchment floating in mid-air. Snape tapped it three times and said 'Full Moon" loudly. The calendar started to spin round and round, spraying golden and sliver glitter everywhere. On top of the calendar was a dim picture of a full moon, with clouds drifting around it. The calendar suddenly stopped spinning. The class leaned forward in curiosity and everyone was mesmerized by the magical and beautiful calendar.  
  
Written on the calendar was a large number 18 with some weird symbols around it. Snape looked at it for some time.  
  
"Ok, class, the next full moon would be in 9 days time, and that should give us enough time to complete the potion. So I expect all of you, especially some dumb butts, to complete this potion by the end of the month. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
"Yes, Professor." chorused the class.  
  
"Good. Now, Weasley. Go fetch the ingredients! Don't take the wrong ones or you'll face the consequences." Snape sniggered. "I'm sure you don't want to be the first to make Gyffindor lose their house points, now do you?"  
  
Ron shook his head vigorously.  
  
"Then? What are you waiting for? GO!"  
  
Ron jumped a little and hurried out of the room. 


	11. Troubled Ron

Chapter 11-Troubled Ron  
  
"Curse that damn Snape the poophead."muttered Ron, as he walked down deeper into the dungeons to get to the storeroom. "think he's all that just because he's a POTIONS master. "Ron snorted and rolled his eyes. "Big deal. It's not like just because he's a Hogwart's teacher, he can save the world or something." Ron thought for a while and looked around to see if anyone was there. "Not like Captain Oreos"he added softly.  
  
A sudden noise startled Ron. Ron looked around again. The dungeons were even darker as he walked deeper and deeper in. There were lots of spider webs around. Ron walked cautiously and looked at where he was stepping so he wouldn't step on any spiders, if there were any. He then heard that sound again. He was getting closer and closer to the sound.  
  
Ron stopped as he saw many doors on one side of the dungeon. He leaned on each of them until he heard the sound that he heard just now. It was the sound of someone in great misery. Ron opened the door slowly, careful not to make any noise in case whatever thing that had made the sound might attack him. It was dark inside and it stank. A torch was lit somewhere deeper in the room. Ron tiptoed in and crouched behind a wall that separated the two rooms. He could see a faint outline of someone, or something in there with something in it's hand.  
  
Ron squinted in the dark as he tried to get a closer look at what it was. He suddenly felt something brush against his neck. Ron turned around slowly, afraid to see whatever he was about to see that touched him.  
  
He almost fainted from fright. Sitting on top of his shoulder was the second largest spider he had seen in his life. (Since he had already met Aragog. But this spider was much smaller then Aragog.) Ron wanted to scream but he couldn't because he was afraid that the thing in the next room might find him and eat him up or something. Ron bit his knuckles hard to prevent his scream from coming out.  
  
The spider started to make it's way into Ron's robe and crawled inside. Ron shook and trembled when he felt the spider's legs digging into his bare skin. The spider crawled deeper and deeper inside. Ron's knuckles were starting to bleed as he was biting them very hard. When the spider suddenly bit Ron with its sharp pincers, Ron jumped four feet into the air and let out a piercing scream.  
  
"YEEEOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!"  
  
Ron yelled as loud as he could and started shaking his whole body like some funky dancing techno freak. The spider dropped out of his robe in alarm and scurried into the darkness. Ron couldn't stop shaking his limbs wildly. He suddenly remembered the 'thing' in the next room and quickly cupped his mouth. He squatted down and prayed in the name of Captain Oreo's that the thing was somehow deaf and didn't hear him.  
  
But it did. It turned around, its face concealed by its long hair. All the blood drained from Ron's face. His eyes wanted to pop out from his eye sockets and Ron tried his best not to pee in his pants. The thing slowly made its way to Ron. Ron was about to scream when the thing's face came into view in the ray of light.  
  
"Heather?!" Ron gasped in disbelief.  
* * * * * * * *  
  
"Great..."sighed Harry. "It's the first term of the year and Gryffindor loses house points."  
  
"Mmm huh."nodded Hermione, her books huddled to her chest as they made their way to Herbology class. "Better not say anything to Ron."  
  
"Urgh, tell me about it. Ron- yoewch!"  
  
Harry stopped speaking as Hermione jabbed him on the ribs. He could see Ron walking towards them, looking very sullen.  
  
"Hey, Ron, so... how many house points did Snape deduct?"asked Hermione, trying to sound casual, but a hint of strainity could be heard.  
  
"Five."said Ron, not looking up at them, a little black cloud hovering over his head.  
  
"Whoa, five?!" The words spilled out of Harry's mouth. "The mates are practically going to murder you if they found out what you did!"  
  
Ron looked up slowly, and Harry knew he had made one of the largest mistake of his life.  
  
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT, HARRY? YOU ARE THE EVER POPULAR AND GREAT HARRY-MR-NICE-GUY! TRY PUTTING YOURSELF IN SOMEONE ELSE'S SHOES AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE!"screamed Ron, his face all red and steam was coming out from his ears.  
  
Hermione was stunned for a moment. "Err...Ron? Calm down, man. It's not that bad."  
  
Ron spun towards Hermione. Hermione's eyes widened as she saw the terrible look on Ron's face.  
  
"AND YOU, HERMIONE-MISS-KNOW-IT-ALL! ALWAYS TRYING TO ACT SMART AND STUFF. YOU SHOULD TRY TO SHUT YOUR SMART MOUTH SOMETIMES!"  
  
"And you know what?" Ron added, lowering his voice. "Maybe I should find new friends. Friends who actually really care about me!"  
  
With that, he stomped away to the Herbs garden. Harry looked at Hermione, a confused look on his face.  
  
"What the hell was that all about?"he asked Hermione.  
  
She looked back at him, and whispered, "I have no idea, Harry. I really don't." 


End file.
